A Trip to Rutgers - Pt. 1

I'm not exactly sure where to start so I'll go backwards and make this a two or three part series and start with the actual game itself and work back from there. Obviously West Virginia annihilated Rutgers...and that was awesome. It wasn't even much of a game...West Virginia dominated. And that's the way it should be.

So, let's get to Rutgers Stadium and talk about the game and what I saw while there. It rained for several hours before the game and the entire first half of the ballgame...which brings up the fact that Rutgers desperately needs to do something with the mud issue around the stadium. Everyone is expected to use the paths they have to the stadium but they aren't even paved. There is mud everywhere.

As you can see, they also park people in the mud at the stadium. We saw several people stuck in the mud on the way out of the stadium area. There was a BMW tire deep that was waiting for a tow truck to hook it up. What an absolute mess. But somehow we braved the mud and made it to Rutgers Stadium: The Birthplace of College Football.

As we're approaching the gate, there is this large blue dot heading to the ticket office. As you can see, The Dot not only got tickets to the game but he was able to wrangle himself up a couple Rutgers girls as well. What a man that Dot is!

Besides The Dot, I saw a few other celebrities at the game:

I believe that's Sylvester Croom heading down the steps there. I'm not sure what he was doing at the WVU game since Mississippi State was beating Kentucky at the time but I still appreciate the support. And then there's the world famous DJ Yoshi. DJ Yoshi was rocking the mic during pre-game. That boy is gonna blow up something big soon...just watch. And then there's the dude who stood there in the bushes for the entire game. Keep on keepin' on, dude.

The highlight of the game for Rutgers was when they entered the field and the rains started coming. This really was the high point for Rutgers the entire game (oh, and The Pride of New Jersey doesn't touch the Pride of some other school that royally whipped Rutgers this weekend...)

West Virginia also knows how to run on the field...

This is the opening kickoff...it marked the beginning of the end for the Rutgers fans. But, let me throw this out there now...I was really impressed by the fact that the Rutgers fans showed up. When I say it rained, it really, really poured down the rain. Lucky for me, my boss let me borrow his Bass Pro Shop rain gear and I stayed dry...but it rained hard. And Rutgers' fans showed up and stayed for a majority of the game...I was surprised...

This guy...and I can't think of a good name for him...antagonized the entire Mountaineer section for over 3 quarters. Non-stop. He ran his mouth, he made gestures (nothing obscene from him actually...his friends, yes, but not him), he mocked, he laughed. He was the great annoyance in the side of many, many Mountaineer fans on Saturday. And, I must say, "Fine show, ol' chap." Seriously, this guy went non-stop for almost the whole game and I have a great appreciation for an antagonist who can maintain his level without resorting to profanity or other obscenities and then is willing to take it back. He took a lot during the 4th quarter and took it with much humility...good show, indeed...

After the Teel interception in the 4th quarter, the crowd quickly began departing Rutgers Stadium and emboldened the feisty Mountaineer crowd. I should throw in that the rain stopped at halftime and the sun actually made an appearance or two before the end of the game.

The poor cannon guys didn't get to shoot too much on Saturday...thankfully. The first time they show that thing off I just about had a heart attack. They won't let the Mountaineer shoot his gun but they'll fire a 300-year old cannon. Yeah...whatever. Final score: 31-3. Domination.

And, so another Mountaineer celebration. No, it wasn't 80-7 but this game wasn't close. And the Mountaineers decided to come over and thank the Mountaineer crowd that came to New Jersey. West Virginia travels well...it's pretty amazing. There was a great representation of WVU at Rutgers and it turned out to be a pretty nice day.

Overall, the trip was pretty nice. A few Rutgers fans needed police escorts away from the Mountaineer section before all was said and done but I couldn't hear exactly what was going on. Everyone was rather pleasant that I encountered. Even the Rutgers street vendor who called me a wisenheimer did so with a laugh (I was trying to get discounted Rutgers' gear). So, WVU is now 7-1 but probably still #6 or #7 because no team ahead of us lost. But, if they win out, they will be in the BCS bowl and will represent the Big East as conference champions (thanks, UConn). More details on the trip later...